Compressive Deterioration of Cracked Concrete

When shear behavior of reinforced concrete (R/C) members is to be simulated, the compressive strength and the stiffness reduction of cracked concrete must be taken into consideration. However, mechanisms of the strength and stiffness reductions of cracked concrete are extremely complex. Thus, it is not so easy work to evaluate this mechanism from the conventional tests on R/C panels such as Collins', which set up a uniform stress field over a wide range (F. Vecchio and M.P. Collins, 1982). In this study, compression - tension tests on simplified small-scaled concrete and R/C panels were conducted by making use of simple testing equipments, and the effects of possible influential factors on the strength and stiffness reductions were studied.